BY 

ELggRTvHVKKRRt 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

ELI  SOBEL 


JO^EPH-LV^LHRKE 

HEIW-  HV&52M 


ELRER 


Copyright  1910 
By  Elbert  Hubbard 


HgC- 


MANHATTAN 


MAN  HATTAN 

BY          JOSEPH  I.         C.          CLARKE 

T  JERE  at  thy  broad  sea-gate, 
AA    On  the  ultimate  ocean  wave, 
Where  millions  in  hope  have  entered  in, 

Joyous,  elate, 

A  home  and  a  hearth  to  win; 
For  the  promise  you  held  and  the  bounty  you 

gave, 

Thou,  and  none  other, 
I  call  to  thee,  Spirit;  I  call  to  thee,  Mother, 
A  merica  ! 

Spirit  of  world  of  the  West 
Throned  on  thy  lifted  sierras, 
Rivers  the  path  for  thy  feet, 
Forests  of  green  for  thy  raiment, 
Wide-falling  cascades   the  film  of  thy 

veil, 
Moon-glow    and   star-flash     thy 

jewels, 

Sunrise  the  gold  of  thy  hair, 
Sweet  was  thy  lure  and  compelling. 

9 


M      ANHATTAN 

Europe,  pale,  jaded,  had  palled  us, 
Asia,  o'ergilded,  repelled  us, 
Africa,  desert-faced,  haunted  us, 
Thou,  when  in  freshness  of  morning,  hadst 

called  us 
And  Wanted  us, 
Held  us. 

Over  the  ocean  We  came  then, 
Wondering,  hoping,  adoring, 
Called  thee  our  mother,  k*ssmg  thy  feet, 
Kindling  our  love  into  flame,  then, 
Old  loves  and  old  worlds  ignoring, 
Making  new  bondage  sweet. 
Bless  us  today,  O  Mother! 

Hark,  how  the  bells  are  chiming, 
How  wind  the  horns,  how  cymbals  clash, 
And  a  chorus,  in  mighty  volume  timing, 
To  tramping  beat  that  never  lags! 
Heavily  booming  the  cannons  flash, 
And  the  air  is  filled  with  the  snapping  flags ! 
10 


MANHATTAN 

Where  passed  the  grim  Briton  with  ventur- 
ing prow 
In  the  cycles  fled, 

The  city  that  stands  like  a  fortress  now, 
Turreted  high  by  the  edge  of  the  water, 
America's  eldest,  magnificent  daughter, 
With  garlands  is  twining  her  brow, 
For  joy  that  her  laughing  heart  remembers 
Three  hundred  red  and  gold  Septembers. 

To  catch  the  glint  of  her  proudest  glance, 
To  hear  the  heartening  music  of  her  drum, 
To  see  her  banners  flutter  and  advance, 
Glad  in  the  sunrise,  let  us  come. 

Not  as  came  Hudson  thro*  mists  of  the  sea — 
Dipping  and  rolling  his  Dutch-built  ship — 
Scanning  the  landfall  with  hungering  eyes 
And  close-clenched  lip, 
By  morning  and  noon, 
Creeping  past  headland  and  sand-billowed 
dune, 

11 


MANHATTAN 

Wing-weary  ghost  of  a  phantom  quest, 
Steering  athrill  but  where  waters  led  West. 

Not  as  when  taking  the  sweep  of  the  bay, 
Sparkling  agleam  in  the  brave  Autumn 

weather, 

Silent  of  man  in  the  new  dawn  aquiver, 
Anchored  his  lone  ship  lay. 
Not  as  he  sailed  where  the  hills  draw 

together, 
Holding  his  course  up  the  broad-breasted 

river, 

Only  the  dream  of  Beyond  in  his  brain, 
Only  the  seas  of  Cathay  to  attain, 
On  till  the  narrowed  stream  told  him  't  was 

vain. 

Then  back  as  one  baffled,  undone, 
Unknowing  he'd  won  by  the  gate  of   the 

sea 

The  throne  of  an  empire  of  peoples  to  be. 
Peace  to  his  dream  that  found  ghastly  close 
Mid  the  sheeted  wraiths  of  the  Arctic  snows! 
12 


MANHATTAN 

Not  as  came  Fulton;  even  he 
Came  brooding  at  the  level  of  the  sea. 
Elect  among  the  genius-brood  of  men, 
Grandson  of  Ireland,  son  of  the  land  of 

Penn, 
Pale-browed,  nursing  a  great  work-day 

dream — 
Harnessing  the  racers  of   the    deep  to 

steam. 

Here  first  his  Clermont  turned  her  paddle- 
blades, 

And  so,  our  flag  above  his  craft  unfurled, 
He  steamed  beneath  the  Palisades, 
The  Father  of  all  steam-fleets  of  the  world. 
Well  may  Manhattan  glory  in  his  fame, 
And  on  her  highest  roster  carve  his  name, 
Yet,  not  as  came  he,  let  us  come. 

No ;  to  the  skies  as  on  wings 
Let  us  rise, 

And  come  from  the  East  with  the  faint  red 
dawn, 

13 


M      ANHATTAN 

Haven  and  harbor  are  carpets  of  trembling 
gold, 

And  the  silver  mist  to  the  green  hills  clings 

Till  the  mounting  sun  has  the  web  with- 
drawn, 

And  behold! 

The  city  lifts  up  to  its  height  at  last, 

With  frontage  of  hull  and  funnel  and  mast 

In  the  day's  full  beam, 

And  over  the  sky-topping  roofs  in  the  blue, 

Over  the  flags  of  many  a  hue 

Are  waving  white  pennons  of  steam. 

We  know  thee,  Manhattan,  proud  queen, 
And  thy  wonderful  mural  crown, 
With  Liberty  islanded  there  at  thy  knee, 
Uplifting  her  welcome  to  those  who  *d  be 

free, 

And  beckoning  earth's  trodden-down. 
We  know  how  the  waters  divide 
And  unite  for  thy  pride, 
And  the  lofty  bridges  of  steel  stretch  hands 

14 


MANHATTAN 

To  the  burg  on  the  height  that  stands 
For  thy  "wealth's  overflow : 
With  the  freighters  creeping  between, 
And  the  slow,  slanted  sails  slipping  to  and 

fro, 

As  the  giants  of  ocean  steam  in  and  go  forth. 
We  trace  thy  slim  island  reach  up  to  the 

North, 

Its  streets  in  arrowy  distance  aloom, 
Its  marts,  its  homes,  its  far-off  tomb; 
The  pleasure-greens  dotting  thy  vesture  of 

white, 
And  tower  and  steeple  like  spears  in  the 

light. 

Lift  thee,  Manhattan,  no  peer  to  thy  strength, 

Energy  crystaled  in  turrets  of  stone, 

Force  chained  to  form  thro'  thy  breadth  and 

thy  length, 

The  builders*  Gibraltar,  the  fortress  of  trade. 
Might  of  the  mart  into  monument  fashioned, 
Mammon  translated  to  mountain  man-made. 

15 


MANHATTAN 

The  clouds  ever  nigher  and  nigher; 

And  the  clang  of  the  anvil,  the  steam-shriek 

impassioned 

Seem  calling  from  girder  and  frontlet  of  steel 
Upward  thrown, 
With  the  square-chiseled  blocks, 
As  they  build  ever  higher  and  higher, 
And  then,  for  firm  planting  thy  heel, 
They  delve  ever  deeper  to  heart  of  the  rocks. 

Deep  in  thy  vitals  the  dynamos  whirring 

Are  feeding  thy  nerves  that  are  wires, 

Thy  tunnels,  thy  veins, 

Stretch  out  as  the  human  tide  swerves, 

And  thy  hidden  fires 

With  the  breath  of  thy  bosom  stirring, 

Make  life  in  the  dark  for  thy  lightning  trains. 

And  out  of  it  all  a  new  beauty  arising, 
The  beauty  of  force, 
Winning  a  triumph  beyond  thy  devising, 
Height-mad  and  power-glad, 

16 


MANHATTAN 

Pinnacled,  domed,  crenelated, 
Masonry  clambering  course  upon  course 
To  a  glory  of  skyline  serrated, 
Lofty  and  meet 

For  the  worship  of  all  the  waves  laving  thy 
feet. 

Mighty,  ay,  mighty  Manhattan, 

Grown,  while  Time  counted  but  three 
arrow-flights, 

From  bare  strand  and  woodland  and  slow- 
rising  knoll — 

A  handful  of  redmen  encamped  on  thy 
heights — 

To  the  city  of  millions; 

Of  millions,  too,  ever  the  goal, 

City  whose  riches  are  billions, 

Whose  might  never  fails, 

Whom    the   nations   from   far   off 
salute, 

And  the  voice  of  a  continent  hails 

On  thy  festival  day! 

17 


MANHATTAN 

While  the  cries  of  the  multitude  roll 

In  praise  of  thy  marble-hewn  body  majestic, 

Sing  to  me,  Queen,  of  thy  soul! 

Sing  of  thy  spirit,  thy  mind, 

Remembering  then, 

The  kernel  and  not  the  rind, 

The  heat,  not  the  fires. 

We  shall  not  judge  thee  by  thy  tallest  spires, 

But  by  the  stature  of  thy  men ; 

Not  thy  great  wealth  of  bales  and  casks  and 
gold, 

Nor  mounting  scales  of  what  thou  *st  bought 
or  sold 

Shall  here  suffice, 

But  riches  thine  in  virtues  beyond  price : 

Not  all  thy  beauteous  daughters  costly- 
gowned, 

But  of  thy  women  chastely  wived  and 
crowned ; 

Not  all  thy  gold  in  public  service  spent, 

But  test  of  equal,  honest  government ; 

18 


MANHATTAN 

Not  creeds  or  churches,  tabernacles,  shrines, 
But  faith  that  lives  and  love  that  shines ; 
Not  courts  and  Judges  multiplied, 
But  Justice  throned  and  glorified; 
Thy  reasons  clear  before  the  world  avowed, 
Not  voice  of  easy  conscience  of  the  crowd ; 
Not  by  thy  thousand  colleges  and  schools, 
But  culture  greater  than  their  sums  and  rules ; 
Not  by  thy  topmost  reach  of  speech  and 

song, 

But  by  their  lift  to  light  and  art  that 's  long ; 
And  from  the  mingling  races  in  thy  blood, 
The  wane  of  evil  and  the  growth  of  good ; 
Not  the  high-seated  but  the  undertrod ; 
The  brother-love  of  man  for  man, 
Ideals,  not  ambitions,  in  the  van; 
Not  thy  lip-worship  but  the  immanence  of 

God. 

But  we  who'd  mete  thy  steps  upon  the 

heights, 
And  thy  soul-message  ask 

19 


M      A      N      H      A      T 

Know  well  the  battles  that  thy  day's  work 

brought. 
No   Greek   Atlantis   art    thou,    Plato's 

thought 

Made  sudden  real; 
No  fair  Utopia  thou  of  mounts  ideal, 
Eased  of  thy  burden  and  thy  task 
With  long  surmountings  in  the  darkness 

fraught. 

Swift  thy  foundations  grew,  but  nights  of 

tears 
And  days  of  dark  foreboding  marked  thy 

years. 
Here  freedom  battled  with  the  tyrant's 

might, 
Here  Washington — Immortal  one — made 

fight, 
Here  swung  the  prison  ships,  and  here  the 

jail 
Whose  gallows  freed  the  soul  of  Nathan 

Hale. 

20 


MANHATTAN 

The  orange  flag  of  Holland  flew 

Above  thee  for  a  space, 
Then  England's  red  for  decades  few 

Flushed  crimson  in  thy  face, 
Until  our  arms  set  over  thee 

The  flag  none  may  displace ; 
That  waving  free  shall  cover  thee 

While  lasts  the  human  race — 
The  flag  that  to  the  breeze  we  threw 

When  skies  of  hope  were  bare, 
Its  red  our  blood,  the  sky  its  blue, 

Its  stars  our  watchlights  there. 

Full  oft  the  ocean  harvests  at  thy  doors 

Shed  sodden  grain  upon  thy  threshing- 
floors, 

The  sound,  sweet  ears  with  wild  tares 
reached  thee  mixed, 

Long-fixed    beliefs    came   hitherward 
unfixed. 

Long-crushed  desires  that  freedom  bids  to 
bloom, 

21 


MANHATTAN 

The  yoke  thrown  off,  for  lawlessness  made 

room. 
How  could  it  other?  Shorn  of  lords  and 

guides 
They  pressed  atow'rd  thee  over  westering 

tides. 
From  lands  of  Czars  and  Princes  still  they 

come, 
Some  young  and  lusty,  open-browed,  and 

some 

Oppression-stunted,  famine-driven,  sad. 
All  praying  thee  for  welcome  fair  and  glad— 
A  niche,  a  shelter,  honest  toil  and  home, 
And  these  thou  givest,  Queen  beside  the 

foam. 

And  stout  their  grateful  millions  stand  on 

guard, 
Their  brain  and  muscle  working  thee 

reward — 

The  solid  Dutch,  the  level  English  strain, 
The  gifted  French,  our  allies  tried  and  true, 
22 


MANHATTAN 

The  German  staunch,  the  Kelt  of  Ireland 

bold, 

Italian  fire  and  Spanish  pride ;  the  Jew 
Keen-witted,  dragging  here  no  Ghetto  chain; 
Each  giving  thee  their  lore,  their  art  of  old ; 
Each  fired  by  thee  with  hopes  and  raptures 

new. 

And  Queen,  thy  women  exquisite, 
Thy  clear-eyed  maids,  thy  mothers  pure — 
Pledge  of  thy  greatness  sweetly  to  endure ! 
By  these  I  bless  thee  in  thy  day  of  joy, 
Thy  wide-thrown  halls,  thy  hospitable 

board, 

Thy  heart  of  anxious  service,  and  the  rays 
Of  kindliness  within  thy  bosom  stored. 
No  evil  shall  thy  graciousness  destroy, 
And  so  I  bid  thee  with  increasing  days 
No  whit  thy  fair  ambitions  to  abate ; 
Fulfil  thy  destiny  of  good  and  great. 

Hark,  the  message  of  Manhattan's  soul! 

23 


MANHATTAN 

Constant  my  soul  on  the  hard  path  of  duty, 

Striving  to  win  to  the  levels  above. 
Longing  my  soul  in  the  gardens  of  beauty, 

Eager  my  soul  in  the  service  of  love, 
Tender  my  soul  to  the  angels  of  pity, 

Humble  my  soul  to  the  bearers  of  light, 
Fearless  my  soul  at  the  gates  of  the  city,    . 

Stalwart  my  soul  for  the  ultimate  right. 

Mighty  my  dreams  of  a  city  imperial, 
Radiant,  free  with  an  ordered  law, 
Rich,    but   with    mind -gold    beyond  the 

material, 

Powerful,  merciful,  just  without  flaw, 
Thrift-strong  and  gentle- voiced,  rippling  with 

laughter, 
Song-filled,  and  thrilled  with  the  triumphs  of 

art, 

Poverty  banished,  and  now  and  hereafter, 
Peace  in  my  bosom,  joy  in  my  heart. 


24 


HENRY    HUDSON 


HENRY  HUDSON 


BY        ELBE 


H       U      B      B 


R      D 


ISTORY  tells  us  that  we 
belong  to  the  Aryan  Race, 
and  the  Aryan  Race  had  its 
beginnings  on  the  uplands 
of  India.  There  men  multi- 
plied. The  conditions  were 
right — soil,  sunshine,  water. 
But  the  food-supply  did  not 
keep  pace  with  the  growth 
of  population.  And  besides,  there  grew  up 
the  leisure  class,  which  showed  its  power 
by  a  conspicuous  waste  and  a  conspicuous 
leisure.  This  class  is  made  up  of  two  elements 
— the  soldier  and  the  priest.  Both  are  para- 
sites, and  when  they  have  their  undisputed 
way,  are  tyrants. 

To  find  freedom  and  bread,  men  swarmed. 
There  were  six  principal  migrations  from 
India,  as  follows:  the  Egyptian,  the  Assyrio- 
Semitic,  the  Greco-Roman,  the  Teutonic, 
the  Celtic,  the  Norse. 

29 


HENRY          HUDSON 

Civilization  had  its  rise  in  Egypt,  where  the 
city  of  Memphis  once  ruled  the  world  & 
Memphis  was  the  educational,  the  financial, 
the  artistic  hub  of  the  universe. 
When  Moses  led  the  Children  of  Israel  out 
of  captivity,  fifteen  centuries  before  Christ, 
Memphis  was  already  falling  into  decay. 
Civilization  had  moved  on,  and  younger 
blood,  that  carried  a  redder  hue,  was  in  the 
saddle.  Babylon  and  Nineveh  had  siphoned 
the  best  of  Egyptian  youth  and  genius. 
Note  how  Egypt  grown  old,  senile,  and  sat- 
isfied with  her  own  achievements  could  not 
afford  Moses  room  to  exercise  his  powers. 
He  had  to  go  out  into  the  desert  in  order  to 
find  space  in  which  to  breathe,  and  in  which 
to  formulate  a  moral  code  having  enough  of 
the  saving  formaldehyde  of  commonsense 
to  make  it  last  thirty-five  centuries  and  more. 
fl  Memphis  lies  buried  beneath  a  hundred 
feet  of  drifting  sands.  The  broken  fragments 
of  Babylon  and  Nineveh  strew  the  plains. 

30 


HENRY          HUDSON 

Civilization  pushed  on  and  we  get  the 
glory  that  was  Greece.  The  armless  and 
headless  marbles  in  the  British  Museum 
symbol  the  splendor  of  her  dreams.  Greece 
for  a  time  ruled  the  world,  and  Athens  was 
the  center  of  art,  philosophy  and  finance. 
Alexander,  captain-general  of  the  Greek 
forces,  conquered  the  world  and  then  died 
sighing  for  more  worlds  to  conquer. 
Greece  lived  her  little  day;  and  then  the 
Romans  overran  her  borders  and  tumbled 
her  priceless  marbles  from  their  pedestals, 
thinking  they  were  gods. 
Rome  subjugated  the  world — or  at  least  all 
she  could  find  of  it.  And  having  succeeded 
she  sat  back  and  got  lime  in  her  bones,  and 
worshiped  the  god  Terminus,  telling  of  the 
things  she  had  done  in  the  days  agone. 
This  gave  the  barbarian  his  chance,  and  the 
Goths  and  Vandals  played  pitch  and  toss 
with  the  things  that  had  brought  her  fame. 
flln  the  year  Five  Hundred  after  Christ,  we 

31 


HENRY          HUDSON 

find  Constantinople  supreme,  with  Justinian 
and  Theodora  dividing  the  power  of  the 
world  between  them. 

Then  were  cast  those  four  bronze  horses, 
which  now  ornament  the  portals  of  Saint 
Mark's  in  Venice. 

The  marauding  Norse,  those  wolves  of  the 
sea,  coveted  the  horses,  so  they  took  them 
by  divine  right.  They  also  annexed  about 
everything  else  that  was  portable  j*  And 
behold!  Venice,  throned  on  her  hundred 
isles,  becomes  mistress  of  the  seas,  the  center 
of  art  and  light  and  education.  Hers  was  the 
badge  of  power,  hers  the  pomp  and  circum- 
stance of  war. 

But  not  forever.  Spain  is  forging  to  the  front, 
and  the  Moor  and  the  Jew  are  combining 
to  construct  the  Alhambra  j*  Read  your 
Washington  Irving!  flWhen  Venice  built  her 
Ghetto  she  planted  the  germs  of  decay. 
Power  moved  on,  and  Granada  was  the 
capital  of  the  world. 

32 


HENRY          HUDSON 

In  that  unforgetable  year,  Fourteen  Hundred 
Ninety-two,  we  find  Columbus,  the  Genoese, 
writing  to  Queen  Isabella  this  letter  which 
is  now  in  our  possession:  "Now  that  you 
have  succeeded  in  driving  the  Jews  from 
Spain,  I  make  bold  to  call  your  attention  to 
my  own  petty  affairs,**  etc. 
Alas,  the  pretty  compliment  of  Columbus, 
designed  for  the  shell-like  ear  of  Isabella, 
was  true!  She  had  succeeded  in  driving  the 
Jews  from  Spain,  and  already  Spain  was 
where  Memphis  stood  when  the  air  got  so 
full  of  patchouli  that  Moses  had  to  go. 
Imagine,  if  you  please,  some  satrap  writing 
a  letter  to  Pharaoh  congratulating  him  thus: 
"Now  that  you  have  succeeded  in  driving 
the  Jews  from  Egypt,**  etc. 


33 


HENRY    HUDSON 

THE  RISE  OF  HOLLAND 

TORQUEMADA  made  the    gutters 
of  Granada  run  ankle-deep  with  the 
blood    of  the  Jews,   and    Holland 
welcomed  the  refugees. 
And  as  Spain  declined  in  power  and  prestige, 
Holland  grew  great. 

The  center  of  the  world's  stage  shifts  now  to 
Amsterdam.  From  Sixteen  Hundred  for 
nearly  a  hundred  years  Holland  was  the 
Schoolmaster  of  the  world.  Holland  taught 
England  how  to  read  and  write,  how  to 
print  and  bind  books  and  how  to  paint 
pictures. 

In  Sixteen  Hundred  Nine,  England  was  a 
pioneer  country,  forging  to  the  front  in  a 
rude  and  crude  way.  She  had  the  ambition 
and  the  restless  desire  of  youth.  But  Holland 
had  the  art,  the  education,  the  philosophy 
— and  the  money. 

In  portraiture  Holland  struck  thirteen.  The 
34 


HENRY          HUDSON 

work  done  by  Rembrandt,  Rubens  and 
Frans  Hals  stands  supreme  today,  even 
after  these  three  hundred  years. 
Art  is  born  of  the  surplus  that  business  men 
accumulate.  The  business  men  of  Holland 
were  favorable  to  the  portrait-painter.  He 
immortalized  many  of  them  on  canvas,  and 
they  live  for  us  only  because  some  great 
artist  painted  their  pictures. 
The  Plantins  of  Antwerp  and  Amsterdam, 
the  great  bookmakers,  were  then  getting 
under  way. 

In  those  days  a  printer  was  somebody. 
Printers  went  into  business  in  order  to 
express  their  ideas.  The  very  word  "com- 
positor" carries  the  thought  <£  The  man 
composed  his  mind  and  set  up  his  thoughts 
in  type  at  the  same  time.  Peter  Plantin  was 
a  printer.  He  was  also  a  great  geographer. 
He  made  a  close  and  complete  map  of  the 
world,  and  wrote  a  book  on  the  formation 
of  the  earth. 

35 


HENRY    HUDSON 

The  Plantin  printshop  is  now  the  Plantin 
Musee  at  Antwerp,  the  property  of  the  State. 
In  this  most  rare  and  curious  old  printery 
you  will  get  the  books  and  maps  of  Peter 
Plantin.  And  in  one  of  these  maps  you  will 
see  the  coast-line  of  America.  The  country 
was  very  narrow  according  to  this  map, 
which  was  made  in  Sixteen  Hundred  Seven. 
Piercing  the  land  were  inlets  leading  out 
into  great  lakes  or  bays;  and  just  on  the 
other  side  was  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  whole 
country  was  supposed  then  to  be  about  like 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  where  Balboa  stood 
and  looked  over  to  the  Pacific.  And  across 
the  Pacific,  at  a  distance  of  less  than  half 
the  way  across  the  Atlantic,  was  India — 
India,  the  land  of  silks  and  teas — India,  the 
land  of  gold  and  spices,  of  gems  and  'broid- 
eries <*  j* 

To  reach  this  land  of  wealth  without  going 
around   the  Southern  point  of   Africa  was 
the  problem. 
36 


HENRY          HUDSON 

Columbus  had  discovered  land,  but  had 
failed  in  his  attempt  to  find  the  passage  to 
India,  and  had  died  in  chains.  Amerigo 
Vespucci  had  discovered  the  continent,  but 
had  been  unable  to  pierce  it  with  his  ships. 
The  Cabots  said  that  if  they  had  had  a  few 
days  they  could  have  traversed  the  woods  and 
stood  upon  what  we  call  the  Alleghany 
Mountains  and  looked  down  on  the  peaceful 
Pacific  beyond  &  The  Indians  had  told 
them  they  could  do  this.  But  three  difficul- 
ties lay  in  the  way  of  getting  valuable  infor- 
mation from  the  Indians — one  was  that  the 
Indians  did  not  know,  the  second  was  that 
they  did  not  care,  and  the  third  was  that  the 
white  man  could  not  understand  them,  any- 
way &  & 

But  that  the  Pacific  was  just  "over  there," 
as  the  Indians  affirmed,  was  the  belief  of  the 
Plantins,  and  of  the  thinking  men  of  the 
world  &  *s* 

England,  young  and  lusty,  was  reaching  out 

37 


HENRY          HUDSON 

for  this  get-rich-quick  route  to   China  and 
India  <£  *£ 

Holland  knew  that  if  England  found  the 
route  she  would  claim  it  by  right  of  discov- 
ery, and  might  block  it  against  the  world. 
England  had  just  wrecked  the  Spanish 
Armada,  and  her  nose  was  in  the  air. 
Holland  had  the  art  and  she  had  the  books, 
but  she  had  traded  brawn  for  brain,  so  she 
lacked  the  blood  that  makes  an  explorer. 
What  then?  Why,  hire  some  steeple-jack  of 
the  sea  to  find  this  quick  route. 


38 


HENRY          HUDSON 

THE  ENGLISH  ADVENTURER 

hANGING  on  the  walls  of  the  Plantin 
Musee,  close  by  the  portrait  of  Peter 
Plantin,    is   a  picture    of  "Hendrik 
Hudson,  the  Dutch   Explorer."  Let 
the    fact   be   noted   that   Hendrik  Hudson 
was  not  a  Dutchman   «J&  He  was  born  in 
England,  of  English  parents,  and  his  remote 
ancestry  was  Danish. 

He  had  made  two  trips  to  Greenland  on  a 
commission  to  sail  around  the  North  end  of 
America  and  go  through  to  India.  He  had 
reached  as  high  a  latitude  as  eighty  degrees, 
but  had  then  been  turned  back  by  the  ice. 
The  man  who  can  sail  through  the  North 
Pole  will  reach  the  Pacific  and  India,  all 
right  &  & 

Hudson's  feat  was  a   disappointment,  but 
the  wily  Dutch  said  we  work  by  elimination. 
There  is  a  middle  passage. 
When  the  Indians  had  told  of  the  sea  "just 

39 


HENRY    HUDSON 

over  there,"  they   had  in  mind  the  Great 

Lakes  &  & 

What   more  natural  than  to  suppose   that 

these  lakes  had  an  outlet  on   the  Western 

side  into  the  Pacific!  Indians  did  not  travel 

far,  and  they  were  not  interested  in  India. 

The  name  "Indian"  was  given  them  by  a 

worthy  explorer  who  thought  that  he  had 

discovered  India. 

Several  of  the  rich  merchants  of  Amsterdam 

made  up  a  purse,  and  sent  a  man  over  to 

London  to  hire  this  man  Henry    Hudson, 

who  had  no  fear  of  the  unknown. 

They  found  him  living  in  a  boathouse  on 

the  Thames.  He  was  poor  in   purse,  and 

without  a  talent  for  getting  on,  but  he  was 

full  of  the  enthusiasm  of  discovery. 

Out  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  one  can  find 

the  typical  prospector,  who  prospects  all  his 

life  and  dies  at  last  alone  in  the  mountains. 

He  is  brave,   hopeful,  restless,   but  failure 

is  his  fate.  It  becomes  the  habit  of  his  life. 

40 


HENRY          HUDSON 

Hudson  was  living  with  his  wife  and  three 
children  in  what  would  have  been  absolute 
want  were  it  not  for  the  kind  hearts  of  the 
ship-captains  whose  boats  were  anchored 
near. 

These  men  who  skirted  the  coast  were  sen- 
sible and  sane.  They  sailed  only  the  seas 
that  were  mapped,  and  always  were  in  sight 
of  land. 

Hudson  craved  the  unknown.  The  others 
respected  him — yes,  but  they  touched  their 
foreheads  with  the  tip  of  a  forefinger  as  he 
passed. 

Hudson  had  lost  money  for  everybody  who 
had  trusted  him.  Only  a  year  before  this, 
those  merry   knights   who  founded  James- 
town   had    asked    him   to   join   them,    but 
Hudson  had  scorned  their  invitation. 
His  wife  believed  in  him,  because  she  par- 
took of  his  delusions,  as  loving  women  are 
prone  to  do. 
Hudson  was  no  longer  young.  His  red  beard 

41 


HENRY    HUDSON 

was  streaked  with  white,  his  ruddy  face  was 
seamed  with  lines  of  care,  his  blue  eyes  had 
lost  a  little  of  their  luster  looking  out  on  the 
snow  and  ice  of  the  North. 
He  was  the  typical  stubborn,  freckled,  sandy 
Englishman  who  never  knows  when  he  is 
whipped. 

The  English  blood  carries  a  mighty  persist- 
ent corpuscle. 

The  modern  British  breed  is  made  up  of  a 
cross  between  the  Saxon  and  the  Norse, 
with  a  dash  of  the  Celt  to  give  it  a  flavor. 
€|A11  the  English  names  beginning  with  the 
letter  "H"  have  come  down  from  the  Norse, 
or  the  Danish,  which  for  us  is  the  same 
thing.  The  name  of  William  the  Conqueror 
was  Hubba,  and  among  his  followers  were 
men  who  bore  the  following  names:  Hume, 
Howells,  Howard,  Harkness,  Hildebrand, 
Hood,  Holman,  Hughson,  Harding,  Holmes, 
Hudson,  Herbert,  Henderson,  Henry,  Hub- 
bard.  The  ending  "-bert"  is  a  Saxon  ending; 

42 


HENRY          HUDSON 

but  the  initial  "  H  "  is  Norse.  It  was  the  intro- 
duction of  this  letter  "H"  that  threw  the 
English  tongue  in  the  air,  and  the  sons  of 
'aughty  Halbion  'ave  n't  yet  got  it  straight- 
ened out,  you  know. 

Names  beginning  with  "E,"  like  Ellison, 
Eldridge,  Ellsworth,  Elbert,  Elberta,Ethelred, 
Ethelbert,  Ethelstan,  Ensign,  Ernest,  are 
Saxon  <£  & 

Hudson  seemed  to  be  the  surviving  spirit  of 
those  "  wolves  of  the  sea,"  who  discovered 
America  about  the  year  One  Thousand,  and 
built  a  monument  or  two  along  the  coast  of 
Rhode  Island  and  then  sailed  away  on  adven- 
tures new. 

They  knew  that  if  they  remained  they  would 
have  to  pay  taxes  to  the  Irish,  and  so  they 
moved  on. 

The  Hollanders  liked  Hudson,  and  as  he 
was  out  of  a  job,  waiting  for  something  to 
turn  up,  he  hired  out  to  the  Dutch.  This 
agent  was  acting  for  the  Dutch  East  India 

43 


HENRY    HUDSON 

Company,  a  trust  made  up  of  six  separate 
companies,  one  in  each  city,  as  follows: 
Amsterdam,  Zeeland,  Delft,  Rotterdam, 
Hoorn  and  Enkhuizen. 

An  agreement  was  drawn  up  and  signed. 
Hudson's  wife  was  to  be  given  eight  hun- 
dred guilders  at  once,  and  if  her  husband 
did  not  return  in  a  year  she  was  to  get  two 
hundred  more. 

Beyond  this,  Hudson  got  nothing  but  his 
expenses.  A  guilder  was  what  to  us  would 
be  forty  cents;  so  we  see  that  the  price 
Hudson  set  upon  his  own  life  was  eighty 
dollars.  This  was  the  sum  of  his  life-insurance. 
tjlf  he  found  the  passage,  however — ah, 
now  we  are  getting  at  it — if  he  found  the 
passage,  it  was  to  be  named  for  him,  and  he 
was  to  be  the  first  governor  of  the  territory. 
€ISo  Hudson  bade  his  little  family  a  stolid, 
sailor  good-by,  and  went  over  to  Holland  at 
once  to  receive  his  instructions,  the  syndic 
taking  close  care  that  his  man  did  not  escape. 


HENRY          HUDSON 

fl  At  Amsterdam  he  met  Peter  Plantin,  the 
geographer,  and  a  committee  of  merchants. 
C[  Hudson  knew  all  they  knew,  and  his  hope 
was  high  that  there  was  a  passage  through 
to  the  Pacific  somewhere  between  latitude 
thirty-eight  and  fifty  degrees.  Captain  John 
Smith  had  been  told  of  this  passage  by  the 
Indians,  and  the  assurance  that  the  sea  was 
"  just  over  there "  was  strong  in  all  hearts. 
He  was  also  very  sure  that  there  was  a  way 
to  go  clear  around  America  to  the  North,  but 
he  agreed  with  the  Plantins  that  the  voyage 
would  always  be  dangerous  on  account  of 
the  cold  and  ice. 


45 


HENRY    HUDSON 

THE  HALF-MOON'S  VOYAGE 

j^"T[  LITTLE  ship,  the  Half -Moon,  was 

I  set  aside  for   Hudson.   The    craft 

I  suited   him.    It    was  staunch    and 

•  strong,  and  could  ride  the  waves 

like  a  cockleshell. 

She  drew  only  a  few  feet  of  water,  and 
this  was  well,  for  sandbars  were  to  be 
counted  on  in  making  "  that  passage.'* 
There  were  eighteen  men  in  the  crew — nine 
Dutchmen  and  nine  Englishmen.  Hudson 
stood  out  for  all  Englishmen,  claiming  he 
must  have  men  who  could  speak  his  tongue. 
A  two-day  argument  followed,  and  a  com- 
promise was  effected. 

On  April  Fourth,  Sixteen  Hundred  Nine,  the 
Half-Moon  hoisted  sail  and  slipped  slowly 
down  the  Zuyder  Zee. 

The  news  had  gone  out  and  half  of  the 
population  of  Amsterdam  congregated  along 
the  wharves. 

46 


HENRY          HUDSON 

The  Weepers*  Tower  was  filled  with  rela- 
tives of  the  sailors.  No  one  wept  for  Hudson. 
His  heart  did  not  beat  one  throb  beyond  the 
normal. 

The  land    faded  from  view  and  the  Half- 
Moon  was  alone  on  the  waste  of  waters. 
The  log  of  the  voyage  still  exists.  It  is  written 
in  Dutch,  evidently  on  dictation  of  Captain 
Henry    Hudson,  who  now  was    "  Hendrik 
Hudson,  a  citizen  of  the  Netherlands/'  All 
of   which  was  evidently  a  legal    expedient 
designed  to  make  good  all  Dutch  claims, 
"  by  right  of  discovery." 
Hudson  did  not  obey  orders  to  steer  straight 
West  for  America.  He  steered  for  the  Land 
of  the  Midnight  Sun.  He  still  hoped  it  was 
possible  to  strike  here  a  current  that  would 
carry  him  straight  across  to  the  Pacific. 
On  May  Nineteenth,  after  a  sail  of  forty-four 
days,  the  crew  came  to  Hudson  in  a  body 
and  demanded  that  he  turn  back. 
One  man  had  died  and  the  sight  of  the  sun 

47 


HENRY          HUDSON 

that  had  forgotten  how  to  set  was  on  their 
nerves  j*  <* 

The  Captain  parleyed  with  them,  and  set  an 
hour  the  following  day  to  talk  it  over.  The 
next  day  the  weather  changed  for  the  better, 
and  the  spirits  of  the  men  rose.  Hudson 
ordered  a  double  ration  of  grog  for  all  hands, 
got  out  his  maps  and  at  great  length  told 
them  of  Captain  John  Smith's  idea  concern- 
ing the  short  inland  passage  that  lay  at  about 
forty  degrees. 

They  consented  to  sail  South,  but  they  must 
get  away  from  the  icebergs  and  the  terrible 
land  where  the  sun  never  went  down,  but 
remained  a  blood-red  ball  in  the  heavens. 
Hudson  started  a  song  and  all  joined  in  as 
the  prow  of  the  Half-Moon  was  headed 
South  &  & 

Sixty-four  days  they  sailed  and  sailed,  when 
the  wooded  shores  of  America  came  in  sight. 
They  entered  "  a  fine  harbor,"  which  is  now 
believed  to  be  Casco  Bay  on  the  coast  of 

48 


HENRY          HUDSON 

Maine.  Here  they  replaced  their  mainmast, 
which  had  snapped  off  short  in  a  gale.  So 
far  as  we  know,  this  was  the  first  attempt 
to  utilize  the  spruce  pine  of  New  England 
for  the  uses  of  civilized  man. 
This  beautiful  bay  was  tempting.  They  put 
out  two  small  boats  and  skirted  it  carefully 
for  signs  of  an  inlet.  They  killed  a  deer, 
which  was  the  first  fresh  meat  they  had  had 
except  fish. 

After  a  week's  rest,  they  again  put  out  to  sea 
and  skirted  the  coast  slowly  down  to  Cape 
Cod.  A  map  was  made,  which  reveals  the 
coast-line  fairly  well;  but  in  some  way  Boston 
Harbor  was  missed,  perhaps  because  the 
gilded  dome  of  the  State  House  was  not 
there  to  welcome  them.  They  sailed  past 
Sandy  Hook,  giving  only  a  casual  look  at 
the  inlet. 

The  Half-Moon  reached  Delaware  Bay  and 
entered,  but  the  signs  of  an  inlet  were  now 
propitious,  and  Hudson  decided  he  would 

49 


HENRY    HUDSON 

go  North  and  examine  the  coast  with  greater 
care.  On  the  morning  of  September  Second, 
Sixteen  Hundred  Nine,  he  dropped  anchor 
in  what  we  now  call  the  Horseshoe  of  Sandy 
Hook.  From  here  he  put  out  with  a  small 
boat  and  three  sailors. 

The  log  reports :  "  Found  a  good  entrance 
between  two  headlands."  A  drawing  is  then 
given,  which  beyond  a  doubt  is  "The 
Narrows.*' 

Hudson  was  at  home  on  the  open  sea,  but 
here  he  moved  with  great  caution.  He  feared 
running  his  ship  upon  the  sands  or  rocks, 
and  so  we  find  him  going  ahead  in  a  small 
boat  with  the  Half-Moon  trailing  along  slowly 
as  he  swings  his  hat  and  signals  her. 
He  passed  Staten  Island.  Next  he  reached 
Manhattan  <*  Here  he  put  ashore  on  the 
shelving  beach.  He  drew  the  boat  up,  and 
planted  the  flag  of  the  Netherlands  on  about 
what  is  now  Twenty-six  Broadway. 
Then  he  moved  on  up  the  river  to  a  point 
50 


HENRY          HUDSON 

where  "hills  are  straight  and  the  waters 
deep."  J*  This  was,  beyond  doubt,  the 
Palisades  &  & 

Beyond,  the  river  widened  and  ahead  were 
the  clear,  open,  placid  waters.  They  came  to 
the  Catskills,  and  two  men  were  sent  ashore 
"to  climb  the  highest  hill  and  the  highest 
tree  they  could  find,  and  look  for  the  Pacific 
Ocean/* 

The  men  were  gone  overnight,  but  came 
back  reporting  only  mountains  and  woods 
beyond.  The  Pacific  Ocean  discovered  by 
Balboa  twenty  years  before  was  not  in  sight. 
fl  Bill  Nye  once  told  us  that  Hendrik  Hudson 
had  nearly  reached  Albany  before  he  made 
the  startling  discovery  that  the  river  upon 
which  he  was  sailing  bore  the  same  name 
as  himself. 

This  was  a  lapse  on  the  part  of  Bill.  The 
fact  is,  Hudson  knew  the  name  of  the  river 
very  soon  after  passing  the  toe  of  Manhat- 
tan's Isle,  for  he  had  written  in  plain  letters 

51 


HENRY    HUDSON 

on  the  map  as  he  sailed,  "Hudson's  River." 

CJ  He  felt  sure  he  had  found  the  long-looked- 

for  passage  to  the  Pacific,  and  remembering 

the   promise  given   by  his   employers  that 

the  passage  should  bear  his  name,  he  wrote 

it  down. 

He  reached  the  present  site  of  Albany  and 

remained  a  week  in  the   vicinity,  carefully 

exploring  the  banks  of  the  river  for  an  inlet. 

Then  he  sorrowfully  turned  the  prow  of  the 

Half-Moon  to  the  South. 

John  Smith  was  wrong;  the  Indians  were 

wrong;    Henry    Hudson    was    wrong — the 

voyage  was  a  failure. 

Already  signs  of  Autumn  were  in  the  air, 

and  the  leaves  were  turning  to  gold.  It  would 

not  do  to  try  to  winter  here — the  Half-Moon 

must  sail  back  to  Amsterdam  and  frankly 

report  failure. 

On  the  way  down  the  river  there  were  many 

Indians  to  be  seen  along  the  banks.  The  news 

of  the  strange  ship  had  evidently  gone  out, 

52 


HENRY          HUDSON 

and  the  copper-colored  natives  were  more 
than  curious. 

Here  was  the  first  ship  to  stretch  her  sails 
on  this  mighty  river  that  had  existed  here 
for  ten  thousand  years  or  more. 
Hudson  drew  in  to  the  shore  near  the  present 
site  of  Poughkeepsie,  and  after  much  sig- 
naling and  beckoning  the  Indians  came  near 
enough  to  be  spoken  to.  But  alas !  they  spoke 
neither  "Anglaise,"  Dutch  nor  French.  Hud- 
son made  the  universal  sign  of  hunger,  and 
this  was  responded  to  at  once,  which  gives 
the  lie  to  that  popular  saying  that  "the  only 
good  Indian  is  a  dead  Indian.'* 
The  squaws  brought  parched  corn,  dried 
venison,  beans,  pumpkins  and  wild  grapes. 
They  also  brought  oysters,  and  "speckled 
fish,  not  of  a  salt-sea  kind."  These  were 
doubtless  brook-trout. 

Next,   they  cooked  a  dog  in  honor  of  the 
great  White  Chief. 

In  return,  Hudson  and   his    men  gave  the 

53 


HENRY          HUDSON 

Indians  knives,  beads  and  strips  of  colored 
cloth  j*  j* 

There  was  much  attempt  at  talk  and  both 
sides  made  long  orations,  but  to  small  pur- 
pose, since  the  interpreter  was  not  yet. 
What  Hudson  was  working  for  was  to  get 
the  confidence  of  the  Indians  so  they  would 
give  a  clue  to  the  passage  to  the  Pacific. 
Hudson  reports  that  the  Indians  had  no 
"aqua  vitae,  nor  spiritus  frumenti."  When 
he  gave  them  rum  they  drank  it  like  water, 
and  "soon  were  very  merrie  and  next  mad." 
^[Evidently  Hudson's  men  had  imbibed, 
too,  for  two  of  his  sailors  lured  a  squaw  into 
a  small  boat  and  were  about  to  fetch  her 
aboard  the  Half-Moon.  Hudson  saw  the 
commotion  among  the  Indians  and  headed  off 
his  reckless  sailors.  He  broke  an  oar  over 
the  head  of  one  John  Coleman  before  he 
could  get  the  woman  safely  back  to  land. 
As  reparation  for  her  injured  feelings,  Hud- 
son presented  her  his  official  red  coat  with 
54 


HENRY          HUDSON 

brass  buttons  and  gilt  braid,  which  he  had 
intended  to  wear  on  the  day  the  complete 
passage  to  the  Pacific  was  made. 
The  Indians  had  now  lost  their  fear  of  the 
white  men,  and  also  they  had  lost  their 
respect  for  them,  since  several  of  the  sailors 
had  stolen  all  the  furs  and  skins  they  could 
lay  their  hands  on. 

Hudson  saw  nothing  to  do  but  sail  for  home. 
The  Indians  followed  down  the  river,  and 
along  the  route  arrows  occasionally  skimmed 
the  air  too  close  to  the  sailors  for  comfort. 
tJNear  Manhattan  the  Mohicans  "put  out 
in  a  multitudinary  swarm  in  hollow  logs, 
and  surrounded  the  good  ship,  the  Half- 
Moon,  and  the  sailors  had  to  fight  for  their 
lives.  Then  for  the  first  time  they  had  to  use 
firearms.  It  is  feared  some  Indians  were 
killed.  Straightway,  the  Half-Moon  put  for 
open  sea,  having  been  in  landlocked  waters 
for  the  space  of  a  full  month." 
The  Half-Moon  had  strong  breezes  from  the 

55 


HENRY          HUDSON 

West  and  made  fast  time  homeward.  She 
dropped  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Dartmouth, 
England,  on  November  Seventh.  Hudson 
made  haste  to  go  to  London  to  see  his  fam- 
ily, before  he  went  to  Holland  to  report  to 
his  employers. 


56 


HENRY         HUDSON 

THE   LAST   VOYAGE 

""HE  following  December,  we  find 
Hudson  again  full  of  hope  and  sure 
I  that  "at  a  point  about  sixty  degrees 
North  of  the  coast  of  the  New 
World  the  passage  to  India  will  be  found 
perad venture  of  a  doubt/* 
It  was  a  gamble — the  Dutch  vs.  Fate.  The 
odds  were  big.  If  the  passage  were  found 
untold  fortunes  awaited. 
Another  ship  was  fitted  out  at  greater  cost. 
She  was  called  the  " Disco verie"  and  "her 
double  plankings  were  made  so  to  withstand 
the  strongest  crush  of  ice."  She  carried  a 
crew  of  twenty-nine  men. 
On  April  Seventeenth,  Sixteen  Hundred  Ten, 
she  sailed  away.  She  reached  that  marvelous 
body  of  water  known  to  us  as  Hudson's 
Bay  j*  £• 

Inland  they  sailed  for  a  thousand  miles.  Here 
was  salt  water  all  the  time;  while  the  puny 

57 


HENRY    HUDSON 

little  Hudson  River  ran  fresh  water  a  day's 
journey  from  the  sea. 

Hendrik  Hudson  was  now  so  sure  he  had 
found  the  prized  passage  to  India  that  he 
refused  to  sail  for  home  when  the  first  nip- 
ping frosts  arrived. 

The  crew  went  into  Winter  quarters,  and  the 
ship  by  December  was  fast  frozen  in  the  ice. 
€J  Game  was  plentiful,  but  the  sailors  were 
afraid  to  venture  far  inland,  "  for  fear  of 
sirens  whose  songs  could  be  plainly  heard, 

and  goblins  that  flitted  everywhere  over  the 

.      »» 

ice. 

The  dark,  cold  Winter  dragged  its  long,  slow 
length  past. 

The  ice  at  last  began  to  melt  and  move  J* 
By  May  the  ship  was  free.  Several  of  the 
crew  were  sick  with  scurvy.  Four  were  dead. 
Hudson  had  been  sick,  but  with  Spring  his 
spirits  rose  and  he  grew  better.  Nothing  is 
so  hygienic  as  hope.  He  determined  to  press 
on  Westward  and  explore  every  inlet  until 
58 


HENRY          HUDSON 

he  found  the  one  opening  out  upon  the 
Pacific  Ocean. 

His  crew  demurred — one  more  Winter  and 
all  would  be  dead.  They  must  return  at 
once,  for  it  was  doubtful  if  they  could  now 
even  find  the  passage  out  to  the  Atlantic, 
much  less  to  the  Pacific.  Hudson  attempted 
to  use  his  authority. 
He  was  disarmed  and  declared  insane. 
He  was  given  the  privilege  of  being  put 
afloat  in  a  boat,  or  of  sailing  for  home.  He 
chose  the  open  boat.  And  he  and  his  son 
John,  aged  sixteen,  and  seven  companions 
were  sent  adrift  with  guns,  ammunition 
and  provisions  to  last  a  month. 
The  Discoverie  sailed,  and  left  the  invincible 
master  on  that  trackless  inland  sea,  skirted 
by  a  country  seemingly  desolate  and  unin- 
habited. 

The  Discoverie  arrived  at  Amsterdam  in 
October,  and  the  mutineers  told  their  tale. 
fl  They  were  arrested,  tried,  convicted — and 

59 


HENRY          HUDSON 

pardoned,  fl  They  made  it  appear  that  they 
desired  only  to  save  the  ship  and  report  to 
the  owners.  Their  frankness  saved  their  lives. 
fl  The  Disco verie  could  have  been  sent  back 
after  Hudson,  but  there  was  no  one  to  serve 
as  captain,  and  Hendrik  Hudson  was  left  to 
his  fate.  The  mutineers  brought  back  a  map 
of  "Hudson's  Bay/'  Traced  across  the  map 
in  bold  letters  was  the  name  of  the  daunt- 
less discoverer. 

What  was  the  fate  of  Hudson,  his  son,  and 
the  loyal  seven  who  stood  by  him  ? 
No  one  knows — not  a  sign  ever  came  from 
them  in  any  way. 

His  little  craft  may  have  foundered  and  all 
been  drowned  before  making  land,  on  the 
same  day  the  Discoverie  sailed. 
It  may  be  they  survived  for  another  Winter, 
and  then  died  of  cold,  starvation  and  disease. 
They  may  have  been  murdered  by  Indians; 
or  fallen  in  with  a  tribe,  been  kindly  wel- 
comed, settled  down  to  make  the  best  of  a 

60 


HENRY          HUDSON 

bad  situation,  and  grown  old,  babbling  to 
their  neighbors  of  strange  sights  and  scenes 
known  years  and  years  before  across  a 
trackless  waste  of  waters  to  the  East. 
No  vessels  sailed  by  white  men  came  that 
way  for  thirty  years. 

Holland  gave  up  the  quest,  and  the  lives  of 
nine  men  are  matters  too  small  to  disturb  a 
nation,  especially  if  the  men  be  foreigners. 
tj And  as  for  England,  she  had  never  missed 
her  Henry  Hudson — only  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren mourned.  And  their  grief  did  not  really 
count  in  a  world  where  woe  is  common  and 
women's  tears  are  nothing  strange.  Women 
are  born  to  weep. 

But  the   keen   Dutch   traders   remembered 
Hudson's  River  and  Manhattan  Isle,  and  so 
where  Hudson  had  planted  the  Netherlands* 
flag  they  founded  a  city. 
And  they  called  it  New  Amsterdam. 
Henry   Hudson   sought   for   one  thing.  He 
found  another.  It  is  ever  so.  And  the  tide  of 

61 


HENRY          HUDSON 

wealth  and  power  ebbed  from  Amsterdam 
to  London.  CJThen  from  London  to  New 
Amsterdam,  which  we  now  call  New  York. 
And  behold  New  York  as  the  financial  center 
of  the  world,  with  her  storied  Wall  Street  on 
the  very  site  of  the  shelving  beach  where  trod 
the  feet  of  Henry  Hudson!  tJAnd  the  tide  of 
Empire  still  surges  toward  the  setting  sun, 
with  New  York  as  the  great  central  gateway 
to  America,  the  land  of  Promise  •£  Did 
Henry  Hudson  live  and  die  in  vain? 
History  says,  No! 

And  the  morning  sun  smiting  the  Palisades, 
and  gilding  them  with  his  glory,  says,  No! 
tJAnd  a  great  and  wondrous  city  of  nearly 
four  million  people,  a  powerful,  restless  and 
unfolding  city,  immense  in  her  possibilities, 
where  nothing  is,  but  all  things  are  becoming, 
pays  her  loyal,  loving  tribute  to  Henry 
Hudson,  and  declares  that  out  of  his  failure 
sprang  success  and  his  memory  shall  not  be 
as  that  of  one  whose  name  is  writ  in  water. 

62 


SO  THEN  HERE  ENDETH  THE  BOOK,  "MANHATTAN" 
AND  "HENRY  HUDSON,"  THE  FIRST  PART  BEING  AN 
ODE  BY  JOSEPH  I.  C.  CLARKE,  TO  WHICH  IS  APPENDED 
AN  APPRECIATION  OF  HUDSON,  THE  DISCOVERER,  BY 
ELBERT  HUBBARD;  THE  WHOLE  DONE  INTO  PRINT  BY 
THE  ROYCROFTERS  AT  THEIR  SHOP,  WHICH  IS  IN 
EAST  AURORA,  ERIE  COUNTY,  NEW  YORK,  JUNE,  MCMX 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Lo,  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


315 


